"I'm surprised this kid is even still alive." Hayate heard someone speaking as he opened his eyes with bright lights shining in his face. He squinted his eyes for this was the first time he could remember seeing this much light. His eyes were not used to it yet, plus he experienced much pain each time he flicked his eyelids. He decided to just keep them closed for now.

"Where am I now?" He thought to himself. "Am I dead?"

"Things still don't look good." He heard the voice. "He's still hanging on by a thread. Whoever did this left him to die, for sure. Where did you find him again?"

Hayate then heard another voice speak. "Just on the outskirts of the Schwarzwald."

"The Black Forest?"

"Yeah, he was pretty banged up."

"Pretty banged up? Let me show you his X-Rays."

Hayate heard no voice but only the rattling of paper. Then the first voice spoke again.

"Six fractured ribs, Here, his jaw is completely shattered. Internal bleeding and bruises on the abdominal area as wells as here, here, and here. His skull is suffering from a slight fracture, he lost a lot of blood, and his knee-cap was completely busted open, tearing his meniscus and it looks like he tried walking on it after all of this was done."

Hayate heard more paper rattling.

"And very strangely, his body was injected with loads of an unknown chemicals that I have to get a scientist in here to tell me what's in his system. They injected chemicals in his arms, buttocks, legs, wrists, even his forehead. We're going to have to flush his entire system and do some surgery and that's just for starters."

"How is he going to turn out?"

"I can't make any promise, Jonas. He's been through a lot. Luckily, you brought me to him in enough time to save him so far, but he's been in and out of comas, shocks, and seizures. When he sleeps his vital signs aren't normal, which tells me he may be having nightmares. Honestly, this kid could still die. Aside from the physical injuries and the chemicals, the emotional trauma may be too much for him."

"Please do what you can, Doc."

Hayate didn't want to hear anymore of the conversation as he figured out they were talking about him. But, Jonas? Who is he? Apparently, he was the one that saved him. Hayate was only glad to be safe and alive for now. He still didn't know exactly where he was, but at least he felt safe. So he rested with his closed eyes and fell back to sleep.

Hayate awoke again to more voices.

"Everything went well. Surgery was a success."

"And what's the bad news?"

"He may not be able to walk."

Hayate's eyes popped open at that remark. This time the light was not in his eyes as before, but it was still a lot for his eyes to get used to.

"I hope they are not talking about me this time." He thought to himself.

He said as in his clearing vision he saw a man standing with his arms dropped to his side. He looked of an older man, maybe of his mid-40s, but well-built for a man of his age. A staggered gray beard and mustache which only helped illuminate his masculinity. Hayate's right eye was covered, so he had to turn his head to see the other voice that spoke.

It was a man of maybe the same age, but did not possess the same physical build as the first. His cranium had abald spotabsent of hair on his headas a sign of his growing age, and he wore small spectacles along with a long white thin jacket with an ID tag on the front.

"What do you mean he won't be able to walk?" The first man said as if he was upset.

Hayate looked at the man and easily figured out the man with the gray hair was Jonas.

"I'm sorry, Jonas, but we're lucky he even survived all of this."

Jonas sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"No need. His knee-cap and torn meniscus was too damaged and him walking on it only made it worse."

"I understand."

"Will he be under your care?"

"Yes. I'm curious to learn more about him." Jonas looked at the doctor. "When will he be ready to go?"

"There are a lot of tests I want to do. Plus, he has to get a lot of rest. Hopefully his immune system will take care of his cosmetics. Maybe a few days, he'll be able toleave."

----------------------------------------------------

Hayate woke up from another sleep, funny, he didn't even remember closing his eyes at the last conversation, but more rattling woke him up.

This time he was someplace different.

He looked around and stared at the back of a man who was doing some unknown tasks. Hayate had no time to trust anyone, he felt better, so he jumped out of the bed, but when he landed on his feet, a very painful sting hit his knee as he feel to the ground.

The unknown man heard the commotion and turned around and saw Hayate scurry over to the corner of the room.

"Whoa, hey, it's okay." It was Jonas. He spoke with surprise in his voice. "Look," He said holding up a bowl. "I was only making you some food."

Hayate said nothing as he started to immediately look at his surroundings while holding on tight to his knee. He was definitely in a room, not a hospital. Had he been asleep this long? Where was he now? And what did Jonas have planned for him? He gave his own body a quick glance as saw his leg in a cast and bandages strapped around his stomach and ribs. His eye was covered with a patch. He was bruised all over.

"Are you hungry?" Jonas broke Hayate from his mental questions as the lost ninja looked at him.

He still stayed quiet. Last time he spoke, he remembered being attacked by an army of guards.

"I'll leave it here, just in case." He said as he placed the bowl on the floor a few feet away from Hayate. "You gave us quite a scare. My name is Jonas and yours?" Jonas held out his hand for complimentary handshake.

Hayate didn't budge; he stayed in his corner like a frightened and cautious little puppy. The type of puppy that may look scared, but will bite if provoked.

"Okay, you don't have to talk if you don't want to." Jonas said in a comforting voice. "But just know that one day you will have to speak to me. I won't rush you. You are at my home. You are safe here. There's plenty of water and food in the kitchen and a bed to get as much rest as you want. I'll leave you to yourself for now."

He stood and began walking towards the door and looked back at Hayate, whom still stayed buried in the corner.

"Just to let you know, kid. There's no need for you to escape." Jonas spoke. "The front door is out this door and to the right. You can't miss it once you reach the kitchen. It's always there if you want to leave, but for saving your life, I hope you have the common courtesy to at least let me know you're leaving." He said as he closed the door behind him.